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Why Doctors Are Not the “Bad Guys”

It is almost impossible to go to the hospital with a health issue and not succumb to surgery or prescription medicines to relieve the diagnosis. Medical interventions happen. Doctors continuously suggest new ways to intervene with our bodies. We then begin to forget how to trust our body’s natural messages or rely on our own judgement as to how we may be healed. When people try to relearn natural remedies they tend to blame the medical profession for their desired change in lifestyle. It is so easy to blame someone else for something that is harmful: saying “never trust doctors,” when, in fact, there are many outstanding and caring doctors in the industry. It is not as important to look at why doctors are “bad professionals” as it is to ask ourselves “why do doctors provide treatments the way they do?”

Often the way professionals (not only medical) perform their practice is due to the curriculum and point of view from their professors during schooling. If their instructors hold high expectations then the student learns to also have high expectations of their work. While if the student is taught by a caring and sincere teacher, then the student also adapts these behaviours. Whether the student is conscious of these adapted behaviours or not, it is a normal part of the human brain. The way that doctors are pushed through years of school with plenty of learning and no time for relaxation is one example of how they unknowingly lose their sense of natural instinct. Their lessons involve how to fix a problem with intervention or medication, rather than how to let the body heal itself naturally over time. Generally, when people want to heal they want to heal now. Doctors provide this quick healing process.

Heidi Rinehart is a Medical Doctor who specializes as an OB/GYN. In Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, Rinehart defines medicine as “diagnosis and treatment of disease.” Even though she considers herself a supporter of natural birth and medicine, she explains that during her training she had no time to reflect on her morals around what she was being taught. Rinehart then goes on to express that “[w]hen the prevailing belief is that childbearing is fraught with danger, how could I retain my belief in normalcy of pregnancy and birth?” Healthy people and births are so rare during a doctor’s training that they do not know how to react to a natural birth. And they rarely pursue more knowledge in this field because, as a society, we view them as all-knowing figures who are not allowed to make mistakes, have doubts or be vulnerable.

People do not specialize in a career when they dislike the profession. Though salary may be a factor for one’s career choice, that person originally felt some attraction to the business aside from the monetary gain. Doctors, Midwives, and Doulas pursue their field of work because they have a passion for helping others through health and support. The fact that each health professional goes through different training does not necessarily mean that one is better than the other. Similar to how parents want to care for their children with the best of their abilities, health care providers feel the same. Medical doctors are trained to heal the human body with medicine and surgery. That is their service to society; providing knowledge about medicine and medical procedures.

When involving childbirth, doctors are trained in emergency births, which is why they often unnecessarily intervene during a healthy labour. They rarely know how to facilitate or support a natural unassisted birth. One of the hardest things for a person to learn is to just let things be. Humans have this idea that in order to help someone we have to physically do something. Only once a professional, whether it is a new doula or doctor, observes a safe and unassisted birth will they realize the importance of support from afar. Rinehart expresses that “[w]e experience fulfillment at being present for birth.” Sometimes that is all that is needed: being “present.”

It is not as much the individual doctors who want to constantly medicate and perform surgery on our bodies as it is the profession. Instead of being wary of doctors, listen to what your own body is telling you before deciding if the issue requires a medical doctor’s assistance. Are you able to heal with time and a healthy diet like you would if you had a cold? Or do you actually have some serious pains and questions about your health, like one would with a broken limb or pneumonia. Do not quickly judge doctors and remove them from your health care support team. Like any profession, there are people who are good at their practice, as well as some who might need more growth in their field. Take time to get to know the doctors in your area, and see if any of their morals align with your own. You will learn to respect and admire doctors when you seek them for their original purpose: medicine